“When news breaks in the future, it will be covered by a multitude of eyewitnesses streaming live video.” @corybe

“In 2039 we’ll be reading a fascinating long read about the last remaining social media expert.” @gregory

“I think a shared consciousness and a version of telepathic communication is all very likely.” Piera

“25 years from now, the way in which we both input and observe media will have completely shifted.” @jeremarketer

“The internet will operate like electricity does today, as an unseen part of the infrastructure around us…” @skgreen

“The most dramatic change by 2039 will not only be the amount of data … but the decision-making power of that data.” @otis

“The term ‘social media’ will fade out of common use well before 25 years from now.” @matthewknell

“[Social media] will become part of the fabric of our clothes, the glasses we wear and the shoes we put on…” @mkramer

“Wearables will completely replace tablets, and social media will hyper-accelerate Big Data.” @Niketa

“will transform every industry.” @jasonwstein

“I’m not even sure if people will be talking about [social media] in five years.” @ellie

Cynthia Dyer, Owner/Partner of the ever so popular Italian restaurant Buon Gusto located in the heart of downtown Guelph shares her views on social media in the future.

Dyer anticipates that in the future customer’s will be “checking in” to Buon Gusto more and more through social media. This will give her marketing team a better understanding of their customer base.

When considering the restaurant in the future, Dyer admits that Social Media will play a considerable role in their success. The younger customers are already engaging with social media on a larger scale. It is inevitable that this will continue to be an effective platform in years to come as these customers age.

When asked about the effect of social media and it’s ability to do good in the world, Dyer commented that through entertainment and education it can be effective, however, it does not necessarily drive people to “do good”. Social media can capture a message after the fact or in the moment that can drive feelings of good will – but it doesn’t drive the “do good” actions.

Will Buon Gusto be participating in paid ad campaigns in the coming years? Most likely not. Dyer comments with enthusiasm that the great thing about social media is that it is free! You don’t have to pay for advertising! SM platforms offer lots of great opportunities with minimal time and gives a great return. Their soft start of the restaurant did not include any traditional advertising though they were ready to fund it if necessary. Through word of mouth, great experience and social media, the restaurant has thrived. SM is not a core competency or a driver of their success and wasn’t part of an active marketing or business plan when they opened the restaurant.

Some of their marketing efforts are created by customers themselves through reviews. Happy, hungry customers taking pictures of well-presented dishes often post photos on social media and tag the restaurant. Other customers write reviews and give ratings on sites such as Trip Advisor.

How does Buon Gusto engage customers through social media? Through a combination of educational and entertaining posts on their blog, Facebook and Twitter including informative content on what is happening seasonally in Italy. Without being self-promoting, the marketing team is dedicated to “staying true to the brand” of Buon Gusto. Dyer, a front of house manager and Chef/Partner Dave Manno are the marketing voices with a large focus on Facebook and Twitter audiences.

Chef/Partner Dave Manno is the face of Twitter at Buon Gusto. He has grown his followers to 14,000 people in just under three years. His tantalizingly delicious photos of his dishes says it all. Cynthia Dyer tells us,

“for Dave it’s passion. One of the keys to social media success is frequency, a constancy, he has so much passion about food and what’s going on out there in the food industry that shines through. It just becomes obvious and he takes great pictures of yummy looking food and tweets them and it makes peoples mouths water.”

Welcome to Buon Gusto, where enjoying Good Food with Great Wine is the Italian way of life.

Dyer admits they are neophytes in the area of social media as she suspects a lot of small entrepreneurial-driven companies are, first of all “do the people at the top, do we really understand it and do we really get it”? Having not grown up with it, she feels they are not living in social media all the time the way a lot of people now are and to do it properly you need to be on it all the time, “executing is a really big challenge!”. Dyer comes from a marketing background and notes they really try and make sure they have a brand and everything they do, write on paper and say are true to their brand. “Social media can get away from you really quickly, you can completely confuse people out there if you are quickly sending something off that does not properly represent your brand”.

What are Cynthia Dyer’s social media predictions for the future? When looking at transitions that have happened in sports and health fitness with the Fitbit, Dyer believes wearability is definitely where it’s going and that it marries with voice recognition and sensory abilities. Being able to control how your device is interacting with you based on your body direction. Stating that it will all happen so fast, Dyer comes from a technology background working with technology companies for 25 years and held a position with Blackberry when they launched the Blackberry. At the time Cynthia noted that “people didn’t get it”, her husband didn’t even carry one for three years and to think that was only 15 years ago and look at where we are now. “It’s all happening so fast, the skies the limit”.

Lessons for others:

1. Social media is not necessarily the driver of success for a lot of organizations. Question to ponder. Does everyone need to jump on the bandwagon? If not, will they be left behind?

2. Explore SM and find out what people are saying about you. Use ratings and reviews as one way to measure your success.

3. It can be easy to lose your standards when feeling the pressure to keep up with SM through constant tweets and Facebook posts. Be careful to consider your brand and remain true to it through all social media efforts

Submitted by: Lisa Fodor & Katelyn Wilson

To contact the author of this entry please email at: katelyntina@gmail.com OR lfodor3@hotmail.com – U of W, Social Media for Business Performance students.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director, Social Media for Business Performance.